Well… it’s been a little while since we posted here, but we hear you missed us! Ruth and I still look like teenagers (okay, maybe 20-somethings at this point) so the best way to catch you up with changes at our house is with some gratuitous glamour shots of the kids.
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| Hunter Dressed as a Settler |
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| Kiana Dressed as a Native American with Papoose Carrier |
The school makes the most of our area including required ski days on Schweitzer Mountain every Monday as part of the curriculum.
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| Lincoln is Fearless on the Hill |
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| Mama and Lincoln |
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| Hunter and Kiana Ready to Rip |
There are many field trips for lessons on Idaho-related topics like forestry and farming; and they encourage entrepreneurship too. This year Kiana entered the Invent Idaho program and was awarded 2nd place in her division.
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| Kiana with 2nd Place ribbon for her Pup Math invention |
This year they even had a full month of sessions at our local Maker Point Studios where the kids got to try out 3D printers, laser engravers, wood working, metal working, etc -- what’s not to like?!
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| Jake and Hunter Setting Up a 3D Print |
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| Kiana Drilling Holes for Her Flag Project |
Last fall Kiana, Hunter, and Ruth participated in Upward Sports at our church. Hunter played basketball and Kiana was on a cheer leading team coached by Ruth. This was a new adventure for everybody!
This winter Hunter and Lincoln have started Taekwondo and they have really enjoyed it; and Ruth and I have appreciated the valuable lessons they have been learning like responsibility and respect. The boys have also started music lessons...
Kiana continues to advance with violin and other musical pursuits, such as the glockenspiel (?!?); and she is leveraging her dramatic tendencies in theater (which she might enjoy a little more than music… don’t tell Ruth).
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| Kiana as Violet with Lily as Charlie in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory |
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| Kiana as a Tulip and Jael as March Hare in Alice in Wonderland |
Ruth has continued to pour endless energy into Music Conservatory of Sandpoint and this year they celebrate 10 years! Ruth and her co-founder, Karin Wedemeyer, have grown this school from a dream to an accredited school of performing arts. While it has been very challenging at times, I'm really proud of what she has built!
Ruth recently decided this will be her last year for her at MCS, which was a very hard decision after investing so much there. She'll continue to teach her existing private violin students; and she's dreaming about her next enterprise ... to be announced later in 2019.
Ruth didn't let off the gas in this final year at MCS - she continued running the Strings department, and organized the Young Musician Exchange program which included students from all over the US, Germany, and Mexico culminating in a summer orchestra camp which was attended by over 60 students!
Ruth also established a youth string ensemble this year. The group was honored to be invited to open for Grammy award winning cellist, Zuill Bailey (twice!) this year.
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| String Ensemble Performing on the Radio |
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| Ruth with Zuill Bailey |
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| Ruth Conducting the String Ensemble |
Outside of her work at MCS, Ruth met up with Natalie (her sister) this spring, in Boise, for a visit with Grandpa Russ and Grandma Sherry. They had just missed his 90th birthday; but had a great time catching up with him!
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| Natalie, Grandpa Russ, Ruth |
Ruth and I have been on a health kick (midlife crisis) for the past couple of years so we're both in the gym several times a week and feeling great. Ruth is now a Crossfit diva!
Early summer Ruth’s youngest brother, Michael, moved to Sandpoint. It’s been really fun having him here!
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| Michael and Ruth at Pike's Place Market in Seattle |
My work travel has been much less this year, but I did make it to Barcelona on an early 2018 work trip to the UK - it was a great adventure!
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| Jake at Sagrada Familia in Barcelona Spain |
Early this year Tamarack finally locked in certification on the third airplane to be certified for Active Winglets. The attention is shifting to the U.S. again which has been a welcome change for our family. The highlight of the year was attending the Aviation Week Laureate Awards in DC where Nick, the founder of Tamarack, received an award for advancing business aviation technology. Other awards went to companies like SpaceX, Boeing, and Dassault - we were really honored to be in their company!
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| Brian, Nick, and Jacob at the Awards Event |
Last spring we met up with my siblings in Leavenworth for our new tradition of a siblings reunion. This year it was really fun to see the cousins start to play together and get some time to hang out.
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| Hunter, Lincoln, and Parks |
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| Jake, Lynae, Justin |
This summer we had the pleasure of a visit from Ruth’s Aunt Mary and Uncle Hartmut from Germany! We met up with them at Ruth’s sister’s family in Kirkland and saw the sights of Seattle, hiked on Mount Rainier, and celebrated the 4th of July.
Last summer we bought and old Malibu ski boat with our friends the Zmuda’s and, through a clever system of levers and pulleys, (actually just lots of water ballast) we learned how to make boat ready to wake surf.
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| Kiana About to Throw the Rope |
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| Lincoln doesn't surf yet, but he likes helping with the water ballast .... |
This summer we had the boat in a slip downtown Sandpoint which was really fun to be able to run down there after work and go out for a while. Hunter learned to ski on 2 skis; and Kiana tried slalom skiing this year for the first time.
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| Hunter Coming in from a Ski |
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| Kiana Trying Slalom on the Boom, on Grandpa AJ's Boat |
We made several trips to Tri-Cities to meet up with family and surfing at Grandpa K's.
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| Jake, AJ, Art on Father's Day Weekend |
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| Grandma Joyce & Kiana |
Late summer we took our boat to Bayview for our family vacation – we’ve discovered the beauty that vacation 40 minutes away is too far from home to get pulled into house chores or other work and also so close there is only time for 1,000 versions of “are we there yet” on the trip there.
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| This Went on For Hours! |
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| The Kids Love Driving the Boat |
We mostly lounged around on the boat and took the kids fishing in the mornings/evenings. This year they all caught at least one fish which was VERY exciting!
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| It took some coaxing to get Lincoln to touch his fish. |
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| So Happy! |
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| Kiana had a bigger one, but it got away! |
We made a PNW tour for Thanksgiving with a couple days in Portland visiting Jake’s mom and her fiance', Don.
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| Don, Nana, and Kiana on the MAX Light Rail in Portland |
Then we went to Lincoln City for a few days on the Oregon Coast for the annual Klinginsmith family reunion.
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| So much fun chasing waves! |
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| Lincoln & Hunter taking in the view |
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| We did some lounging too... |
This year the kids really enjoyed seeing everybody and playing on the beach.
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| Uncle Mardy and Lincoln went to coffee |
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| Kiana and Aunt Julie had some good girl time (including a shopping trip!) |
Our new nephew, Boyd, couldn’t make it to the coast so we stopped in Clarkson on the way home to hang out with Boyd, big brother Parks, and his sleepy parents.
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| Hunter, Kiana, Parks, and Lincoln |
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| Ruth and Boyd... so many cuddles, so little time! |
If you're still reading this... wow! We had some catching up to do!
Ruth and I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2019!
